Sailing, Yachting and Catamaraning around Turkey

Sailing For The Visually Impaired

There are several complexities that are involved in sailing such as understanding wind speed and direction, maintaining course, as well as clearing of obstacles that might come in the way. Hence, with such challenges it definitely becomes an impossible task if the sailing needs to be done without proper eyesight.

However, there are ways around the problem. Many of us are dependent on our sight so much that we cannot imagine sailing without it. However, for those who are visually impaired, they will surely disagree as they can offer their views on how they sail. That is primarily done by feeling the wind, the direction and intensity of the same.

Indeed, SailBlind is one such program that offers joys of sailing on the water and even experiencing racing at high speed even worth vision problems. One such team WBZ went on light wind sailing this Friday at Charlestown, having spent a week away last summer on Croatian yacht charters. The venue of the sailing event was the Courageous Sailing Center. Matt Chao is one of the sailors who have never seen the boat as he has been blind from birth. However, he has managed to become a champion in sailing.

He states that he has been sailing for about 37 years out of which he has raced in about 24 of them. There are others with varying levels of visual impairment. For instance, Katherine Kern can only see through a narrow sliver. She is out there training in order to be a competitive sailor. All of them love the water and the experience of sailing. Most state that they simply create a mental picture of how it feels to be out in the water. There are guides who act as the eyes of the sailors and the rest develop a sense of the sailing conditions that they need to feel in order to be able to sail by themselves.